College GEAR UP Team Attends San Francisco Conference
(Press Release 08-10-09)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

Submitted story and photos

    Members of the Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP for a Brighter Tomorrow team recently attended the 2009 NCCEP/GEAR UP Annual Conference—GEAR UP AT THE FOREFRONT: Leading the Way in College Access—in San Francisco, CA. Attendees celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) throughout the conference.
 
    The event provided participants with an opportunity to look to the future by assessing the program’s performance, refining strategies, and infusing new practices to improve services. This is the ninth year in which NCCEP has convened the GEAR UP community for the purpose of sharing best practices, exemplary models, and effective strategies designed to expand college access and success for low–income students.
 
    Participants attended concurrent sessions. Plenary speakers included Héctor Garza, founding president of NCCEP; U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah, the author of GEAR UP; Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco; Lynn Mahaffie, Director of the Teacher and Student Development Programs Service at the U.S. Department of Education; Greg Darneider, Special Assistant to the Secretary for College Access at the U.S. Department of Education; Tony Wagner, Co–Director of the Change Leader Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Laura Rendón, scholar/practitioner/activist interested in how education institutions can assist low–income, first–generation students to attain success; and Sean Covey, Senior VP of Innovations and Products at Franklin–Covey, a world–renowned organization devoted to helping individuals and organizations achieve greatness.
 
    Eastern’s GEAR UP staff participated in the GEAR UP Program and Gallery Walk on Monday evening. The Gallery Walk features GEAR UP programs and is designed to provide all conference participants the opportunity to share the programs, college access models, and education strategies they have found most effective in closing the academic achievement gap between low–income and more affluent students. This showcase of exemplary college access practices provides conferees with ample opportunities to network, exchange information, and share lessons learned.
 
    Eastern’s GEAR UP team members attended breakout sessions including Do's & Don'ts of Fiscal Management; Documenting the GEAR UP Match; Making Your Mark--The APR Process; Speaking Teenager: How to Connect with Students in 30 Seconds or Less; Building Partnerships with Partners--The Secret to Student Success!; Closing the Training Gap: A Fun & Fresh Approach to Empowering GEAR UP Educators & Administrators; Using Diverse Models of Tutoring and mentoring to Lead the Way in College Access; Maximizing the College Exploration Experience; GEAR UP 101; Teaching Traditionally Underserved Students How to Be Consumers in the College Process; GEAR UP Goes Green; Improving Student Achievement through Enhanced Teacher Professional Development; Data and Student Monitoring Systems; A Methodology for Collecting School Level Intervention & Activity Data for GEAR UP Projects; Developing an Evaluation System that Integrates Real-Time Performance Analyses, Opportunities for Improvement, Annual Plans, Surveys, and GEAR UP Reporting Requirements; How the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and New Implementing Regulations Will Affect Your GEAR UP Grant; Tests Don't Bite! Preparing Students for ACT/SAT through Practice Exams; Career Planning: A GEAR UP Model; Are Males Dropping Out or Being Pushed Out?; Money Talks! Creating Successful Collaborations through Grant Writing; Developing a Framework to Link Activities to Outcomes and Cost; The Secrets to an Effective GEAR UP Evaluation; GEAR UP Data Gathering and Survey Success in the Silver State; Personal Development: An Essential Key to College Readiness’ Firefighter, Lawyer, Teacher, Nurse…Targeted Career Focused Experiences--More than a Tour; Choose Happiness--Motivation for Staff and Students; Teachers as Writers; Outline Tracing System for atching Funds and Activity Numbers; Parent Leadership Institute: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Parents & Families; GEAR UP in Rural America; Here on Duty! Living Your Dreams and Helping Others Live Theirs; GEAR UP for the Green Economy; Defining Your Unique Dependable Strengths or From Poverty to Ph.D.; Using Data & Accountability Systems to Communicate Program-Added Value to Stakeholders; College Tours: The Journey of College Exploration from 6th through 9th Grade; 16 Summers College Acess Toolkit; Monday Matters; Blog All About It; Financial Literacy Tools: Money Skills for Real Life; The Case for a Case–Managed Approach: Lessons Learned and the Evolution of the GUPPES Case Management System; Encounter the Real World: An Authentic Campus Experience; and What's in a Name? Branding & Marketing your GEAR UP Program
 
    “The conference was amazing!” said first–time conference attendee Nina Fereday. “I had no idea there were so many GEAR UP partnerships and grants. The breakout sessions were extremely interesting and informative. Learning and sharing with others in our field will be beneficial to our staff, teachers, and students.”
 
    Eastern Oklahoma State College received a $6.7 million federal GEAR UP grant and is beginning its fourth year of implementation. Eastern is partnered with 23 area schools to provide students with additional educational opportunities.

Caption information:
Eastern GEAR UP staff attending the 2009 NCCEP/GEAR UP Annual Conference—GEAR UP AT THE FOREFRONT: Leading the Way in College Access—in San Francisco, CA were Education Coordinator Nina Fereday; Professional Development Coordinator Lorrie Russ; Web/Computer Tech Specialist George Larson; Education Coordinator LaDonna Baldwin; Education Coordinator Dara Ward; Project Assistant Helen Scott; and Project Director Linda Morgan.